A plug for plug-in cars [Speakout]

Seven years ago, I drove 5000 km from San Dimas, Calif., to Washington, D.C., in a battery-electric car. To keep going on the long trip, I towed a small trailer outfitted with a gasoline engine-generator combo that automatically charged the batteries as needed. My destination was a meeting of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), which was also attended by then–U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Started two years previously to great fanfare and under Gore's personal supervision, the PNGV pooled the resources of the Federal government and the Big Three automakers: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. The goal was to develop a 3-L/100-km (80-m/gal) "supercar" for production by 2004.